Super Fighting Robot
Chrysalis' funeral had been a lengthy affair. Changeling funerary rites were exacting, each step needing to be meticulously performed to precise detail. The entire experience lasted the better portion of the day, and ended when Chrysalis’s body was committed to the royal burial chamber.
The wake was held in the changeling throne room, the otherwise spartan chamber decorated with remembrances of the fallen queen. Many ponies mingled with the changeling population, a good chunk being G-project employees. Both princesses were present, speaking with a few higher ranked changelings.
Spike navigated through the throng of grieving, and still very disoriented changelings, scanning over their heads. Standing above the shifting sea of colors were the distinct orange antlers of his friend, Thorax.
"Hi, Thorax," Spike greeted, getting the changeling's attention. "How are you holding up?"
Thorax nearly jumped, his eyes as wide as saucers. They relaxed, as did Thorax as a whole. “Spike!” Wrapping his arms around the drake, he pulled him off his feet. “I’m so happy you're here! Things have just gotten...” he trailed off, his gaze on the floor.
"Insane?" Spike offered, patting his friend's back. A beat passed and then another, still held in Thorax’s grasp. “Uh..., Thorax, could you put me down?”
Blushing, Thorax dropped the drake and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, just kinda needed that. Being the new king and organizing this funeral, it's taken its toll." Gesturing to himself, Thorax’s words rushed in a jumbled heap. “I mean, I’m twice the height I used to be. I don’t need to eat love anymore. I have these... things on my head! Some lings don’t want to change! And... and... everyone expects me to be just like Chrysalis!”
"Whoa, easy there." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of the paper bags he kept on hand for when Twi had one of her fits. "Breathe into this. Now, you know you can't be like Chrysalis. But what you can be is a leader your own way."
Thorax almost snatched the bag from Spike, almost hyperventilating into it. “H-how am I supposed to lead!? I was just interning at the Mayor’s office. I don’t know how to lead a nation!”
"Do what comes naturally, she clearly believed in you. Hay, I believe in you too." Spike pat his back, motioning for him to breathe. “I don’t think she picked the wrong changeling. Not a single degree of doubt in my mind.”
"Hearing you say that really makes me want to believe it." Thorax let the ghost of a smile cross his muzzle, the bag dropping to his side. “Even if I did turn into a bug moose.”
"I think the antlers are cool," Spike offered. "Think of all the ways you could decorate them. Think about it, you could hang tinsel from it during Hearth's Warming. You’d be a walking symbol.”
Thorax chuckled, putting a hand to an antler. "That does sound festive. And maybe I can talk to Rarity about accessories for the rest of the year, I do need more things to go with lime green in my wardrobe now anyway."
“That’s the right outlook,” Spike encouraged, looking up at him. “And if things get too overwhelming you can always talk to me. I know Celestia and Luna will be there to help out too. And Wyatt.”
"Thanks, Spike," Thorax said, letting out a deep sigh. "I'll probably be talking to them a lot. I’ll try not to bother you too much. You already have a lot to worry about.”
"What are friends for?" Spike retorted, a smile on his face. "I can always make time for you."
Despite the setting, a relaxed air fell between the two friends. Even though there were lingering doubts for the new monarch, there was a hint of confidence to his body language.
Sunny Flare zipped up her boots, giving the laces a hard tug. Pleased with her handywork, she addressed the rest of the Shadowbolts. Pre-mission adrenaline pumped through her body, carrying the usual combat enhancements.
“You all about done?” she questioned, scanning over each of them. “The faster we get this done, the faster we can get that R&R Midnight promised.”
“Oh yeah,” Lemon agreed, her hand fastening a belt of supplies to her waist. “We’ll finish this in record time and hit up the best beaches in the multiverse!” Looking over her shoulder, she glanced at Sugarcoat. “Do you have the target’s profile?”
“If you paid attention, you’d remember I already told you,” came Sugarcoat’s curt response. “We’re looking for Goring Corundum, some type of umbrum offshoot.”
“So hard to kill and crystal fetish, got it,” Lemon said with a thumbs up.
Indigo cracked her knuckles, a grin cracking her face. “That profile got me pumped! Here’s hoping we run into that Mega Twerp. Boss Lady would cream her pants if we brought her a robot like that.”
“It’s adaptation abilities certainly would make for a good research subject for her,” Sugarcoat agreed, looking down at her tablet.
“Not to mention all the weapons we could use for ourselves!” Lemon cheered, high-fiving Indigo.
Sunny rolled her eyes. “Just make sure you do your jobs.” Motioning for them to gather around, she opened the ripple. “Boss wants him alive and not dying. Surround and contain. Move out.”
Motioning with her hand, Sunny and her fellow Shadowbolts filed through the ripple on a direct course to their target. The cold breath of winter clawed at their bodies, desperately trying to leech the warmth from their bodies. Unfortunately for nature, they were beyond such concerns.
Visibility on the other hand was still among their concerns, something the blizzard conditions greatly cut into. Fanning out, they began the search for the umbrum. A sharp whistle cut through the howling winds, drawing attention to the approaching black shape.
The group fanned out, quickly surrounding what they assumed was their target.
Corundum forced himself through the snow. It had built up sticking to his legs as black ichor dripped from his mouth. Even with the amount of damage Hurricane and X had done to him, it wasn’t enough to fully destroy his body. Focus on his crystal allowed him to keep his form even as his internal organs were slowly losing form and turning his body fully into an Umbrum.
It had taken all his focus to keep going… only to feel hatred radiating off of figures that seemed to be surrounding him. It tasted… delicious! The sheer hatred born in a living being’s heart was a palpable salve for his soul… quite literally since he was certain that was all he was at this point.
The first one that came into view, however, disappointed him completely. It was like a pony… only bipedal and with a stupid looking face. Similar colors, in fact, but aside from that they still reeked partially of flesh sack syndrome.
“Great… filthy bipedal freaks…’ Corundum hissed under his breath keeping his words down. He didn’t want to waste too much energy he could better utilize to keep his form solid.
“We've got an offer for you,” Sunny spoke, projecting her voice over the wind. “You either come with us or the tincan gets you, it’s not that hard of a decision.”
“Fine… weird harlot… lead the Faust damn way.” Corundum growled out as he coughed out some more black slime that had been leaking from his throat.
“We are gonna have to ask the boss to take care of that for you,” Indigo commented, retching at the display. “I do not want to see that any longer than I need to.”
“Need… hatred… “ Corundum gurgled as the crystal on his neck glowed slightly as more fractures appeared on them. “Need it… quickly… “
“I think we can arrange something,” Sugar said as an unknown energy signature appeared. “Now, take a step through this distortion.”
“Corundum! Get back here!” A metallic figure dashed in through the snow, their glowing arm aimed directly for Corundum as he stepped through the ripple. He fired the shot, the energy causing the ripple to expand and contract strangely.
“Oh look, metal Pinocchio showed up,” Lemon spoke up, standing next to the distortion. She glanced back, watching as the tear continued to twist and contort. “Our little bonus gift to the boss saved us the trouble of hunting him down. Whatcha think, Sour?"
“I think we’ll get a raise if we bring her a shiny new toy,” Sour noted, summoning her bow. “Just remember to keep him intact girls.” Taking aim, she fired a few energy bolts at his chest.
The metal figure quickly rolled into the snow to escape the shots and switched colors, glowing once more as he did so. He quickly jumped back into the air only to throw out several blocks of gel like ice around him. As soon as he hit the ground he switched colors once more.
Sour aimed her bow at the ice, firing a few shots at it to test what would happen. The arrow sunk into the block of ice and lost all momentum as soon as it went straight through it.
“Alright, so the ice isn’t normal,” Sour noted. “Girls, don’t touch it. Something tells me it does more than dampen momentum.”
Firing off a large cyclone from his hand, X sent a wave of ice and the slush towards the girls closest to the portal which Corundum had gone through. He dashed forward ready to tank whatever they tried to do, switching over colors once again, glowing as he did so.
“Wow, he really thinks he can take us,” Lemon laughed, cracking her knuckles. “Must have a circuit broken. I mean really, you think you can take down the Shadowbolts?”
“Whore Squad. Got it, understood and in the vault,” X muttered, sounding completely uninterested in any of them.
Sour split her bow into two hand sickles and jumped in front of him. “You’re not getting through, rust bucket.” She slashed at his chest in a V pattern.
X released several walls of electricity around him as the sickles touched his chest causing him to flinch back but sending most of the electricity into the girl. Switching over colors and charging up he blasted away at random with regular shots. There were small nicks in his chest from where the sickles had touched but the sudden surge from his weapon sent her flying off elsewhere.
Lemon summoned a heavy looking handgun into her hand and fired it at him. “Whoa, look at you with all those weapons. Boss lady’s gonna love figuring out what makes you tick.”
Releasing his charge again, X turned intangible and immediately charged forward towards Lemon. As she kept firing he got close enough that when the intangibility ended he grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward hitting her gut as hard as he was capable of doing without killing her then fired several buster shots into her.
He wrapped his arm around Lemon crushing her arms against her torso… hard enough to keep her trapped but not hard enough to crush her ribs and charged up a fully powered buster shot aimed directly against her head. “Stop or else.”
“Too bad for you, I ain’t a normal girl.” Lemon slammed her head back into X's, disrupting his vision. Prying herself from his grasp, she grabbed X’s arm and tossed him over her shoulder and into the snow.
“Good to know,” X stated, his arm was still aimed at her. He fired up into her crotch, sending her to the ground. He unleashed the slushed ice along the ground towards the targets and immediately rolled towards the tear.
Sugar summoned a hand axe and jumped towards X. She brought the axe over her head and slammed it down towards his body forcing him to grab the axe… she just stared down at him. Her eyes were kind of dead… or something. She adjusted her axe, causing it to look like a gun. This was immediately confirmed by her opening fire on X.
X kicked her away as the shots scratched against his helmet tearing through it revealing a head of hair underneath. He switched over to another color and started to glow once again.
“Get up, Lemon,” Sour commanded, glaring at Lemon. “Get up! You can worry if you can still have kids later.”
“Still working on getting feeling back in my legs,” Lemon wheezed, rolling over onto all fours. With a heave of effort, she returned to her feet. “I think we should stop playing with him and use the Konami Code maneuver to finish this.”
The tear was still in sight and he dashed for it seemingly ignoring the group.
“We’re not done with you!” Sour shouted, firing off a few more arrows at his back. “Don’t just stand there you idiots! Shoot him!” The others didn’t need to be told twice and let loose a hail of energy shots at X.
A shield activated as the energy shots hit it bouncing off helplessly and dissipating. It didn’t mean that the shield was perfectly stopping the shots. The bolts were causing fractures to spider web through the shield. It was still enough to get close enough to the tear as he jumped into it. The sudden energy shift tore the shield apart as X disappeared into the tear.
Wyatt hummed to himself, a shopping list in hand. His spirits were high with the promise of Spike making fudge with some of what he needed to buy. He would’ve asked Twilight to join him, but she had gotten in one of her study frenzies trying to translate the Linto script.
“Morning, Carrot Top,” he greeted, stepping up to the vegetable stall. “Got anything exceptional today?”
“The zucchini turned out really fresh,” the mare in question answered, holding up the green veggie. “Plus I’ve got a new red onion crossbreed that I need taste testers for. I’d do it myself, but I’m biased for my little veggie baby.”
“I’ll take both,” Wyatt said, opening his bit pouch. “How much?”
“The onions will be free since they’re not for sale yet,” Carrot answered, bagging up two of the deep purple onions. “In return you give me a completely honest critique of them. And for the zucchini, I’ll go two for three bits. How’s that sound?”
“That’s a steal.” Wyatt slid the bits over and took the bag. “Thanks, Carrot. I’ll let you know how the onions turn out.”
“Say hello to Twilight and Spike for me,” Carrot said with a smile, waving him off.
“Will do!” Wyatt called back, continuing on his trek. He took a moment to look at his list, checking off what he’d already bought. “Okay... that’s about half done...” He stopped, his gaze turned towards the left. There was something stumbling down the street, barely able to stand on its own power.
“H-help… m-me…” A voice called out before flopping on the ground. Black ichor dripped from their now open mouth.
Wyatt rushed over, kneeling down besides the pony. Adjusting his groceries, he helped the poor stallion up and finally caught sight of the ichor. "Careful there buddy, I'll get you to someone that can help with that."
“It’s… coming…” He said before losing consciousness coughing out a bit of the ichor accidentally hitting Wyatt’s shirt.
Fighting the urge to retch, Wyatt bent down and put the mystery stallion on his back in a fireman's carry. "Help this guy now, dry clean later," he muttered, making his way to the library.
Ponies began to whisper as Wyatt moved through the streets, their stares following after him. Luckily, the stallion wasn't overly heavy, but the trip was still more than twice as long than it normally was.
Throwing open the door he called out, "Twi! I need your help! Got a pony that looks like he's been hit by dark magic! He uh, also has four legs!”
There was no response at first before Twilight popped into existence in front of him. Her eyes bulged out the instant she properly took in the scene. "Put him on the couch, carefully." Her magic worked in overdrive, conjuring a more appropriate attire for her and Wyatt.
"Wish you'd have used that spell on me like ten minutes ago," he commented, moving to get rags and towels while she worked.
“This dark magic poisoning is far worse than what Shining and Spearhead had.” Twilight brought out a few devices, waving over the stallion's body.
“Think you can do something about it, Twi?” Wyatt questioned, beginning to clean up the stallion as best as he could.
“Please… you must hurry… it’s… it’s coming soon… those damn monsters sent a golem after me.” Corundum’s sly voice coughed out selling the facade.
“A golem, what kind of golem?” Wyatt asked, watching Twilight’s horn as it lit up. “We can’t help you if you don’t give details.”
“A blue… golem. It shot fire from its hand. It created typhoons out of nowhere. It released domes of lightning!” Corundum coughed out releasing a large pool of ichor in his excitement. “He’s trying to wipe ponies out. Kill us all!”
Twilight and Wyatt shared a look, digesting what had just been said.
"You're safe here," Twilight assured, cutting off her magic. “Nothing can hurt you in our library.”
“Liar.” Corundum let out a growl… letting fear and anguish take over. Peering from shadow to shadow in a vain attempt to keep the monsters away.
"Calm down," Wyatt said, trying to get the stallion to settle on the couch. "You can't let the dark magic influence you."
“You can’t save me.” Corundum let out before peering down at the floor.
"You'd be surprised what we can do," Twilight chirped, offering a smile. "We have means of purifying somepony in a situation like yours."
“Worthless.” Corundum growled out as the rage once again shined about his face… before breaking out into a retching cough leaving a larger pool of ichor on the ground. “You can’t protect me from the golem.”
"Don't count us out, protecting people is what we do," Wyatt retorted, putting a hand to his chest. "We can handle some golem."
The door was shot open with a large burst of plasma. Corundum saw the golem and instantly sneered before turning back to his sniveling form once more.
“Aiyee! He’s here… protect me before it’s too late!” Corundum screamed before coughing up a load of black slime which also had him dodge the charged shot that was fired at his head.
“Holy shit, an evil Mega Man!” Wyatt shouted, slapping his driver to his waist. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Ignoring Wyatt, X immediately dashed in, knocking him to the side as he shoved his buster into Corundum’s face.
“Bind, please!” Before X could react to the odd voice, chains appeared from out of nowhere and wrapped around his body.
X looked at the chains, quickly struggling and his body changing color.
“Okay, Evil Mega Man, just chill for a second will ya?” Wyatt asked, stepping over. “Don’t go all T-1000 on us.”
The chains were pulled out from wherever they were coming from snapping them off as X grabbed Corundum with his free hand gripping him by his neck forcing him to struggle.
“Okay, that’s it.” Conjuring his card case, Wyatt opened it up and pulled a card out. “You wanna go Terminator, I can fix that.” Opening his belt, he slipped it in and closed it.
‘Kamen Ride: Decade!’
X glanced at the man before ignoring him and looked back at Corundum. His buster began glowing as he readied against Corundum’s head. Corundum didn’t cry or beg for mercy.
“Land, please!” the odd voice from before called out. Some drum music started to play and the word “don” was chanted rhythmically as a black gloved fist clocked X in the side of the head.
X was sent flying out the window with his hand still gripped around Corundum’s neck. The buster shot went flying wildly creating a large hole through the entirety of the tree, revealing the outside world.
“Looks like we’re staying in a hotel for a bit,”Twilight said, groaning at the sight of the library. “That can’t be good for the tree.”
Ignoring the constant transformations and focusing on Corundum, who was struggling even worse against his grip, X turned his buster toward him once again. He charged up and backpedaled slightly to keep them from charging in to stop this. Wyatt was wielding a sword against X and Twilight seemed to be evaluating him on some level.
“Who the hay shot a hole in the house?!” Spike shouted, sticking his head into view. “Oh come on! Can’t monsters at least respect the notion of home!?”
“Technically I made the hole, Spike,” Twilight said, turning her attention to the dragon. “I thought that was easier than risking a drawn out fight around the books.”
“Fair enough,” Spike replied, poking his head back inside. “You two hold him off, I’ll be down as soon as I’m changed.”
“You… are… the worst… heroes… being strangled… rragh… here!” Corundum shouted out, clearly losing his cool as X’s buster finally charged up and was pushed into his face.
Wyatt unfolded his card case into a sword and slotted a card into his belt. “Attack Ride: Slash!” With a slice of his blade, he sent a thin energy wave at the wrist that was strangling Corundum.
Corundum fell out of X’s grasp and scurried back over to the strange armored people. The wild shots at his legs missed as he used his umbrum abilities to turn his legs to smokey shadows at intermittent times. Wyatt and Twilight didn’t seem to notice as they focused on the robot that had attacked them.
“God damn it all,“ X uttered before switching colors once more.
“Looks like our new friend can change his abilities on the fly too,” Twilight said, tapping a hand to her belt.
“Connect, please!” A small magic circle appeared at her side and she pushed her hand into it. When she retracted to it, an odd, silver sword was in her grasp.
“Corundum… you know how this will end.” X stated calmly, looking him straight in the eye. “Decade, if you are a hero you will stand aside.”
“Give me one good reason why I should.” Wyatt pulled out another card and slotted it into his belt.
“Depends on which story that monster told you. There are quite a few that he could come up with based on how he acts. Or didn’t you notice how he has been acting since I showed up?” X said as Corundum rushed into the tree.
“He has been less scared and more… angry,” Twilight noted, lowering her sword slightly.
“He lies!” Corundum shouted from the shadow of the inner dwellings of the tree. “He killed the Mi Amore Family in cold blood! All slaughtered at his feet… a soulless golem who thinks nothing of mortal life!” Corundum yelled before falling into a coughing panic spitting up several globs of black slime.
“If he thought nothing of mortal lives, he’d have shot us with that buster of his while we were distracted just now,” Wyatt said, turning to the treehouse. “And I happen to know that Megaman X is a hero under normal circumstances.”
“Yes! You know what he is! You know that he isn’t doing what he normally does, don’t you!? Is my life meaningless so long as you meet your memories in physical form,” Corundum shot back, folding his ears down looking about ready to cry as more black slime came out of his mouth.
“No life is meaningless,” Wyatt retorted, walking up to the door. “But I’m starting to think something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.”
“I don’t have time for this.” X dashed in knocking Wyatt aside as he fired down on Corundum’s head who rolled to the side. The next shot he fired glowed a deep red, causing the dirt to turn into molten slag. “Stop running!”
“I can help,” Twilight said, taking off one of her rings and replacing it.
“Bind, please! A yellow magic circle appeared beneath Corundum, only instead of chains, lines of rock appeared and wrapped around his body.
“Heh… stupid heroes. Always believing things without the smallest basis of proof. Typical idiot hero, isn’t it?” Corundum grinned as his flesh melted off his face turning into black inky smoke and tearing its way out of the tree trying to bring the tree down on everyone. “Buck you all!”
“That looks like proof to me!” Wyatt shouted, removing the one card from his belt before quickly slotting in another one.
“Attack Ride: Illusion!” grey silhouettes appeared before four copies of Wyatt solidified into existence. Each of them grabbed the trunk of the tree, keeping it from falling.
“Wizard, go with X and chase down Corundum!” Wyatt ordered, strain obvious in his voice. “I’ll do what I can about the library.”
“God damn it! God damn it! Mass Murderer and Near Genocider on the loose!” X dashed off not even waiting for anyone else. A monster on the loose that would kill without prejudice. As long as he killed, it wouldn’t matter whom he did.
Corundum soared through the air revealing his mantis-like shadow claws though most of his inky flesh was torn and bleeding black slime. He was looking for a way to keep going and things would get worse and worse by the second.
Twilight took off her yellow ring and switched it for a green one. “Hurricane, please!” She ran through a green magic circle and her outfit shifted. Once the circle faded she summoned a whirlwind beneath her and took to the skies after Corundum.
“X! Just what is Corundum?” Twilight asked, glancing down at X. “That kind of magic, is he something like King Sombra?”
“Who’s that? Forget it, no time. Umbrum, creature of shadow that feeds on hate. Orders from Commander Hurricane and Star Swirl to deal with him. No questions, just move.” X cut off the weird mare, who hitched in place when Commander Hurricane and Star Swirl were mentioned.
“Then he’s exactly like Sombra!” Twilight said. “King Sombra was an Umbrum who took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. He petrified and shattered Princess Amore and turned the Empire against Equestria. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna managed to seal him away but he cursed the Empire to vanish until his return.”
“Really…? You’re doing this now when you have a monster that enjoys violating ponies by forcing crystals to grow in their bodies rupturing them from the inside out and turning them into golems just because he thinks that they are the next step in evolution. Really? This is the best time to talk about history? Focus on that and when we are done we can talk about anything you want within reason.”
“You didn’t let me finish!” she chided. “I bring it up because Sombra is here.” Glancing around she added. “Just keep an eye out for a pink filly and a grey foal!”
“Less talking, more chasing,” X shouted back as Corundum started to charge up magic off in the distance.
Twilight pushed herself forward, the whirlwind under her getting stronger.
Corundum wasted no time charging up whatever magic he could firing everywhere in Ponyville. The laser beams he fired were not as strong as they could be but they managed to burn through several of the buildings. They didn’t burst into flames but they did disintegrate whatever they hit. By sheer chance the ponies were getting out of the way dodging the beams and managing to get out of town.
A large thin beam of plasma shot out trying to strike at Corundum. He dodged out of the way firing beams of magic back as they traded blows weaving out of the way of each other's shots.
Corundum attempted to charge up a large shot which left him wide open and allowed X to shoot him in the gut sending him spiraling down into the town.
“Wizard! Did you see where he fell!?” X cried out as she came over to look for his trajectory.
“Yes!” Twilight shouted back, altering her course. “Follow me, I think we can finish this monster off!”
Corundum wasted no time and ignored the two, shooting the thin beam through several houses and slicing them in half. The energy had finally reached critical mass as the ground exploded in a hail of fire and slag. He turned to the mares grinning with his nearly rotten smile as black slime poured down from it staining the ground. Then he flew off continuing his rampage willingly taking on hits so long as he destroyed everything he could. The crystal on his neck started to fracture raining pieces down as his form started to falter.
Corundum looked down at the weird armored figure and pointed his jaw upwards. Magic formed above it as it started to rain magical energy beams of death. Using the distraction he soared away while the cries of ponies rang out amongst the town.
X caught Corrodum with a buster shot, sending him into a crowd of fleeing ponies. Corundum knocked the blade out of his gut, taking stock of the ponies around him, and deciding to help himself to a meat shield.
His eyes lit up when he saw a grey unicorn colt leading a pink earth pony filly by the hand away from the destruction. Knocking the colt aside with the blunt end of his left mantis claw grabbing the filly with his right claw.
“Let her go!” Sombra shouted, unleashing a torrent of flame onto the rotting pony. His flames passed over Diamond, like water off a duck.
“Do it again. Do it again! It tickles.” Corundum growled out maliciously licking his lips as he stared down his prey. “Don’t worry though, I’ll return her soon enough. Maybe after I flay her open like a flesh suit? Foals enjoy playing with organs don’t they?” Corundum took off to the skies holding on to the pony and laughing the entire way
“No! Leave her alone!” the colt shouted, firing off a few bolts of magic. After a few shots, only sparks came out and he fell to his knees.
“Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!” X shouted as we passed through the ruined town stopping in front of a colt collapsed on the ground. “Hey! Wizard! This the one?”
“Yes! That’s Sombra!” Twilight landed in front of the colt and helped him up. “Sombra, did he hurt you?” she asked, stroking his mane.
“He took Di!” Sombra latched onto her, holding back a sob. “I-I couldn’t save her!”
Twilight stood up, showing off her ring. “Don’t worry, that’s what us heroes are for. You just get to safety.”
I wasted no time and took off into the air using the Falcon Armor to chase after the departing Umbrum. Thanks to my internal power source I could keep flying without the limitations that were in place in game. I charged up my buster aiming for the shoulder that wasn’t holding onto the filly.
“I’m not scared of you!” the filly shouted, giving Corundum a glare. “The riders are gonna turn you into dust, just like all the other monsters!”
“Good… And you’ll make a decent flesh suit after I rip you to shreds. A good harvest.” Corundum answered without breaking the twisted grin on his face… while black slime leaked almost incessantly. Before he could say anymore a large buster shot tore through the left mantis claw tearing it off of its body. Corundum fell down back to the ground tearing through the earth as he nearly lost his grip instead tightening it before the filly could escape.
“Connect, please!” A green magic circle appeared next to the filly and a moment later a hand shot out of it and grabbed the filly. With a heave, it wrenched the filly free and pulled her through the magic circle.
“Nopony’s becoming a flesh suit on my watch,” Wizard said, the filly at her side. “Di, get back to the library and tell OOO to use the pink set, okay?”
Corundum looked at the weird armored figure and spat out gallons and gallons of black slime out of his maw. The black slime started to move on it’s own grabbing Wizard sinking into her legs piercing them as the slime hardened. Several magical spheres appeared over his body and shot out, cutting off the pink filly and striking X out of the air into one of the buildings.
“Okay, I think you need to visit a dentist,” Wizard joked through clenched teeth as she switched to Land form. “But lucky for you, I have a drill in my bag of tricks.”
“Drill, please!” A magic circle appeared beneath her and her legs started to spin like a drill. A moment later, she disappeared beneath the earth, kicking up dirt as she did. Before Corundum or X could wonder where she went, a hole appeared beneath the umbrum. Twilight leapt out, her blade cutting across his failing flesh.
Letting the cut occur the slime that emanated out from the wound shot out grabbing Wizard’s arms and legs with the largest wrapping around her throat. Figuring out that she was in front of him now he slammed her head first into the ground over and over again dragging it through several times until he launched her through the nearest building still covered in slime and stuck against the wall. X finally got up noticing her near me.
“So… got anything to distract him?” X muttered as he switched to another weapon.
“If I could move, then maybe,” she said, struggling against the slime that kept her pinned to the building. “Ugh, I feel like bad modern art right now.”
“Fireproof?” X looked to her and aimed his buster up, waiting for the signal.
“I do have dragon essence in me, that might offer me some resistance to fire,” she answered, starting to trail off as if to think. “Actually, I’ve never hurt myself when breathing fire, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Well… one life to live. This’ll be interesting.” X released the flame and saturated her entire body to melt the slime off. It turned slowly to ash and Wizard thumped down on the ground on her back. “You can rest when you’re dead.” Then the scream of a little filly called out from beyond the building.
“Di!” Twilight shouted, forcing herself to her hooves. Retrieving her dropped sword, she dashed off to the source of the scream.
The slime had formed enough to grab the filly as Corundum affixed one eye on Wizard and X
while the other focused on Di, as she was called. The mantis claw slid into place near the filly ready to strike and Corundum started to speak.
“Pretty filly getting skinned, speak any words will bring her end.” He focused on Wizard especially. “Same goes for weaponry… X… “ Corundum hissed out barely masking his rage as all the slime bubbled. “If you want her back though… well I could be persuaded…”
“Get off me!” Di growled, breathing fire onto Corundum. Though, much like her cousin, it didn’t seem to affect him much. Her flame lasted for only a few fleeting moments, before she exhausted herself.
Wizard’s weapon trembled in her hand as she looked between the filly and the umbrum. “What do you want?” she hissed, staring at the umbrum.
“Heh… heh heh ha ha… X… allow her to stab your power core and I will walk away without consequence. The pony will go free and I will die.” Corundum stated, drawing the claw along Di’s belly. “Unless you’d rather explain to others how you let ponies die needlessly.”
“You want me to trade one life for another?” Wizard questioned, taken aback by the idea.
“How good are you at catching, Wizard?” X muttered toward Twilight as his armor turned a deeper purple color.
“Pretty decent given my Rider powers, why?” Twilight muttered back, keeping her head facing Corundum.
“Good to know.” X raised his buster as Corundum raised his mantis claw.
Within the blink of an eye X threw Di over towards Twilight as the effect fell and the mantis claw immediately tore into his gut and raised the reploid into the air. Sparks rained down from his wound, much like blood gushing forth..
Twilight managed to catch the filly, quickly setting her down on the ground. “That was your big idea?!” she shrieked; her gaze locked onto the hole in X’s stomach.
“That was part one. I was hoping you would have attacked him and stopped him while the claw was still in my gut,” X deadpanned as he turned back to Corundum firing several buster shots into his body.
Twilight grabbed one more ring off her belt and slid it onto her finger. “Kick Strike!” Leaping into the air, she positioned herself to perform a dropkick on Corundum. A large, yellow magic circle formed beneath her foot and crashed along with her directly into Corundum’s face.
Corundum screamed as the magic in the kick pierced through his core destroying his body as the black slime and shadows turned to ash and dissipated leaving behind a large fractured red crystal laying on the ground.
Twilight sighed in relief, adjusting her belt and equipped her armor“That took some effort, but that bastard’s finally gone.” Glancing over at Di, she turned her focus to me. “You alright?”
“Who? Me?” X motioned a finger to his body. “Yeah, see… I’m truly a hole-y figure.” He pushed a hand through the hole in his gut and waved to Wizard before pulling it out of the wound.
“If it weren’t for the smokey slime monster, that would’ve been the most disturbing thing I’ve seen all day,” the mare said flatly, pointing a finger at his wound. “But you seem to be okay. What about you, Di, you alright?”
The filly nodded, looking over the dried slime on her outfit. “I’m fine, but I think my clothes need a trip to the incinerator. Thanks for saving me.” She glanced over to X. “You too, Mister.”
“Yup. I’m so glad Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum and Chancellor Puddinghead weren’t here as well. They would have found me getting stabbed through the gut again far too reckless. Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” X shrugged as his body started to regenerate under the sunlight.
“Or what doesn’t kill you is actually slowly killing you,” Twilight responded. “But, I’m glad that you have an auto-repair function.” Clearing her throat, she moved up and held her hand out. “I’m Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, it’s a pleasure to formally meet you.”
“X. That’s what I’m going with for now… can’t be too careful when that damn serpent could be around listening.” X shook her hand.
“Serpent? Who or what are you talking about?” Twilight questioned, tilting her head at him.
“You know… him. Chaos… and don’t you dare say his name. He could be anywhere and as mortal enemies we are probably going to kill each other on sight. Me especially after what he tried.” I muttered the last part raising my buster around slightly charged.
“Oh.” Twilight nodded in understanding. “You mean Discord. Well, you should be fine; I doubt any Discord would want to leave their universe. Besides, if yours came here, I imagine ours wouldn’t take too kindly to having a doppelganger.”
“Right… I’m not lowering my buster. He already decided to try and make me his equal where I’m from. Something strange he called a Spirit of Order or something like that.” X stated.
“Right.” Twilight lit her horn up, cordoning off the area with the magical equivalent of police tap. “I’ll ask that you stay around to give your statement to the royal guard.”
“This is a weird Equestria, Star Swirl never mentioned anything more than the Equestrian Army to deal with threats… oh. Oh! This is that thing… huh… lots of things are starting to fall into place now.” X placed his hand underneath his chin closing his eyes in contemplation.
“You must have been Displaced to an Equestria centuries in the past,” Twilight surmised, her eyes beginning to twinkle. “Star Swirl vanished not long before Celestia and Luna defeated Discord. My rider powers are based on some of his work.”
“Displaced? What’s that? Also what about the other ponies that he is friends with?”X crossed his arms trying to keep his confusion from getting out of control.
“How about we take this discussion back to the library?” Brushing her dress off, Twilight turned back towards the library. “You and Wyatt can discuss this while I find a healing spell for the tree.”
“Uh… sure. I’m curious now.” X followed after her making sure that Diamond stood next to her.
The walk took a few minutes, Wyatt still holding up the tree. Though, he did seem a bit more tired than when they left him. Sombra was hovering close by.
“Hey, Twi,” all the Wyatts said at once. “Did you have a nice stroll around the town? I’ve just been here, practicing my tree hugging.”
“I can see that.” Lighting her horn up, Twilight grabbed the tree in her magic. “Spike! Can you grab me any book with botany spells, specifically ones concerning trees?”
“Want me to take over… Wyatt was it?” X stepped up to the person holding up the tree.
“Yeah, the name’s Wyatt,” Wyatt replied, sounding less tired as the aura from Twilight’s horn spread around the tree. “And I think I can handle this now that Twi’s helping me.”
“Fine. So… displaced. What are they?” Leaning against one of the intact sides of the trunk, X watched intently.
“People who were costumed in one situation or another and found themselves pulled into a version of Equestria. That’s the short version anyway.”
“Long version, please.”
“Well the long version isn’t much longer,” Wyatt admitted adjusting his footing to ease the strain of the tree. “The case for most of us displaced is that we go to a con of some kind, buy an object related to our costume and the one selling it turns out to be an entity called a Void Dweller.”
X looked towards the door as Spike stepped out of the library. He moved over to Twilight, a stack of books in his arms. “All the magic botany books I could find,” Spike offered, holding them out.
“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight replied, picking up the books in her magic and looking through them all at once. After a few minutes, she pointed at one with a green cover. “Aha! Mending a broken tree. This spell can reattach limbs and other materials of a tree so long as not much time has passed and the pieces being mended are still relatively healthy.” The aura around her horn and the tree shifted and after a few moments, a creaking started to come from the library.
“Neat… So anything else that I should know about Displaced now that your arms aren’t full.” X motioned to the now repaired tree.
Pulling the handles on his belt, Wyatt’s copies faded from existence as he undid his transformation. “We can summon one another through tokens. Mine’s my Decade card. It’s pretty easy to make one: just pick something you think represents you, concentrate and make a message for it and then toss it so it can go out into the void for others to find.”
“Huh… “ X raised his hands up, giving them an appraising stare. After a few seconds something started forming in his hands. It was a large white case shaped similarly to the cases that usually held cyber elves within them. “You mean like this thing?”
“Yeah, that can work,” Wyatt nodded, leaning in to get a closer look. “I have no idea what it is but it should work fine.”
“It holds cyber elves. It’s a way to summon us to another’s aid… or at the very least a copy.” A ball of light lifted out of X’s body, taking shape. Above X floated a tall female reploid with pink hair and two sevens on her chest flashing a holographic blue color.
“Nana! I told you you all need to remain hidden!” X yelled out frowning at her sudden burst.
“It’s fine. We’re sure that we can afford some risks here. This information is a necessity if this is what is going on now.” Nana informed X coaxing a pair cyber elfs out. One bore a modified Falcon Armor clad entirely in green plating and the other wearing a modified Gaea Armor, plated entirely in red.
“Cyber elves?” Twilight questioned. “I’m not familiar with that term.”
“We are full fledged A.I. Capable of high levels of technological advancement and specialized fields. I, in particular, am the one who holds several Petabytes of data detailing all technology for the past years of human history since 21XX. Harpuia is a strategist program capable of detailing millions of plans based on his own calculation. Fefnir is a combat expert with knowledge of all possible styles of fighting and any weapon possible. I can’t detail the others right now but that is what we are,” Nana explained detailing a few more options they had behind them.
“How fascinating.” Twilight had already summoned a scroll, her magic furiously commiting word to paper. “But what sort of people use X’s to denote a year? Is that supposed to be like the numeral for ten? But then why start with regular numbers?” she muttered the last part to herself.
“It was the year when the Maverick Wars started. When everyone died,” Harpuia explained overhearing the muttering easily enough. “One reploid became a virus and sent the world into war and destruction leaving nothing but a ruined earth and mistrust amongst those born and those created.”
“So it’s a time people wanted stricken from the records?” Twilight guessed, putting a hand to her chin. “Or maybe, due to the chaos of the event, the exact date was lost?”
“No. It’s just that all the people who kept track of dates like historians were all dead. It only got worse due to the second war where ninety percent of all reploids and sixty percent of all humans were wiped out in one go. No reason to keep track when every one who would care is too busy trying to survive after widespread genocide and the slow decline of humanity as a viable species.” Fefnir interjected revealing just how bad things had gotten in that time.
Twilight shuddered, returning the books to Spike and took Wyatt’s hand. “I’m so glad you didn’t come from a world like that.” Reaching down, she placed her hand on Sombra’s head.
Wyatt managed a grin. “Same, I’m not exactly the Mad Max type.”
“It’s a good thing she managed to take out Corundum’s crystal. That thing acted like his mind and heart. He had knowledge of how to make unstoppable golem armies by turning ponies into crystal golems exploding them like flesh balloons,”X sighed out looking towards Twilight
Retching, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’m glad I took him out. The last thing I would want to see is Spike’s cousin explode in a gore pile.”
“You did destroy the crystal right? I remember it was fracturing while we fought it but I kind of got distracted with the hole in my gut.” X looked over as he placed the cyber elf container on one of the tables.
“My Finish Strike took care of it,” Twilight assured.
“Wait, what’s this about Diamond Tiara exploding!?” Spike asked, glancing between Twilight and myself. “Sombra told me that someone had taken Di, but holy crap!”
“Held onto her like a meat shield and threatened to turn her into a flesh puppet unless Twilight killed me,” X bluntly stated, crossing his arms as he did so.
Spike stared before bolting off into town. “I have to make sure Di’s okay!”
“Be careful with her!” Twilight called after him. “She’s a little shaken up by what happened!”
“X! X where are you!” An older sounding voice called out revealing a tall quadruped pony wearing a star adorned cloak and wizard’s hat with bells. His beard reaching well below his chest.
“Oh, there you are Star Swirl. Corundum has been dealt with finally,” X called out as the stallion trotted over the debris around the slowly healing tree.
A strange high pitched noise came from Twilight’s direction and before X could react, she rushed up into Starswirl’s face. “Oh my gosh! It’s really you!” She paused, a giddy look on her face. “Well, not my version of you but you nonetheless! I’m a huge fan of all your work!”
“Of course… good to hear.” Star Swirl patted the very enthusiastic mare pushing her slightly to sit down with his magic and turned to me.
“A few friends of ours were quite clear that you were a misanthropic dick who borderlined on specist,” Wyatt spoke up, eyeing Star Swirl critically. “Doesn’t tell a lot of good stories about you. Said Somnambula had the looks though.”
“Yes of course because in a web of alternate universes of infinite possibilities every single me is the same just like you aren't a horrible monster in another one and a killer in another or mayhaps a different universe where you've been kept at home. All alternate universes are different and should any being immediately take at face value that their version is the quintessential version out of all versions they would sorely be mistaken. Regardless I've come for X. Things need to be pushed forward for our plans now that the Crystal Empire is free.” Star Swirl lectured before turning to me.
“Before you go.” Wyatt cleared his throat. “We could talk about a few things. Say... my new X cards.” Holding his hand out, he resummoned his case and pulled out a card displaying X’s image. “What’s happened in the past thousand years, maybe take a trip over to the human continent.”
“Do we have time, Star Swirl?” X looked down at the pony who was lost in contemplation weighing his options.
“As tempting as exploring those links are, there isn't. Mist Mane is doing her part right now to keep the portal open. Project Harmony is also in dire need of being started now that we have access to the Crystal Empire. Also some of my scrying attempts of our neighbors have been revealing golem technology trickling into their borders which is harrowing if it is as horrible as the massacre that happened to the Amore family.” Star Swirl groused looking dire as he explained all the trouble occurring.
Wyatt looked between them. “You guys do know, you don’t have to keep it open right? I can just send you guys home by dismissing you. I think.”
“It's more because I was being polite. I have other problems as well since that chaos spirit nearly invaded Everfree Castle and got right next to the princesses. He has started to be more bold in his plans. Also Concerto is looking for you X,” Star Swirl explained.
Wyatt nodded in understanding. “Alright, just don’t hesitate to call me if you want help.” Reaching into his card case, he tossed X one of his cards.
“Here. You can have this then.” X grabbed the card placing it in his buster for far later and handed the cyber elf case over. “Basically open this case and one of us will come out to assist you based on who you call. If you need strategy, Harpuia comes out. Weaponry is Fefnir, combat versatility is my cyber elf copy, and technology is Nana. There are others but they are locked right now.”
“This should come in handy,” Wyatt said, holding up the case. “Hey, Twi, before they leave, think you can copy Maud’s research and the tokens we have? Give them a care package or something like that.” Turning back to X, he smiled. “If anything, next time you run into Discord, try and use my card to kick him in the face. A rider kick permanently broke one of our Discord’s teeth.”
“If you say so… I'm not exactly in a rush right now since there are other things to deal with first.” X watched as Twilight used a pair of rings to conjure and copy a laptop and a box of random items.
“Here.” Twilight smiled, passing the objects to X. “The laptop has everything we have on rider research, I hope it helps.”
“Yeah. This should do fine.” X accepted the package and held onto them.
“Upgrade time before we leave!” Nana immediately jumped into the laptop and started to surge power through it forcing several parts to change, becoming sleeker. “We have updated everything and fully remade this low tech to high tech Sir.” She saluted before returning into X’s body.
“Hmm, that gives me an idea,” Wyatt said, holding the cyber elf case towards their version of the laptop and opening it.
‘Please choose your assistant’ The Case bellowed out as the first lid opened.
“Nana,” Wyatt replied.
‘Complying. Copy accessed. Set personality’ The voice continued.
“Let’s go with… upbeat and positive,” Wyatt answered, taking a moment to understand the request.
‘Perky 50’s flirt accepted.’ The voice answered as a bright light lifted out of the case.
“Sup there handsome. So whatcha need me for?” The newly created Nana flew over to Wyatt rubbing her diminutive hand over his chest regardless of being a small fairy like figure.
Wyatt chuckled nervously, giving Twilight a weak smile. “I would like it to be on record that the case said flirt, not me.”
“Oh don't worry sweetie.” Nana flew over to Twilight. “I plug in both ways.” She ran her hand against Twilight’s cheek.
“Just upgrade our laptop,” Twilight deadpanned, holding the device up.
The Nana copy entered the laptop and while everyone ignored the… ecstatic moans coming from it the laptop fully upgraded to a sleeker model. “Done. Will that be all?”
“Think you can stay in the laptop and act as an assistant?” Wyatt questioned, shaking the elf case. “Or do you need to go back in the case?”
“If you want a different assistant I have to go into the case. If you want me to integrate into the tech all I need to know is if you're the one pushing my button,” Nana said as she lounged out in mid air in front of his gaze.
“Am I going to have to worry about you sneaking out and making a reploid body for yourself?” Wyatt asked, quirking a brow at her. “I get the feeling you’re gonna get handsy.”
“Oh my sir. You are so naughty thinking so hard about giving me a body because you actually want to push my buttons.” The Nana copy blushed… as much as a cyber elf copy could.
“Keep it up and I’m making a Fefnir copy,” Wyatt deadpanned.
“Yes because he has the knowledge to upgrade tech. Oh wait, he only knows weapons,” Nana copy mock smiled.
“And the G-Project could use a weapons expert to help them,” Wyatt retorted, using his pinkie to poke her nose which went through her.
“See sir. I knew you wanted to get your hands inside me.” She chuckled as her form returned to full again.
“I know she’s just teasing you,” Twilight commented, trying not to erupt into laughter. “Anyway, thank you a lot, X. This will be a great help to Equestria.”
“Yeah… you picked a weird personality there. We're… we’re just gonna go. Star Swirl, you coming?” X motioned to the wizard who was looking over the tech.
“Yes. Let's leave them to their work and head back.” Star Swirl lit up his horn as several hundreds of magical circles grabbed the two with thousands wrapping around us as we were dragged from that plain of existence and disappeared from sight.
Time meant little to Midnight, her work turning the flow of time into an unacknowledged blur. Her fingers clattered away at her keyboard, preferring analog input over the fancier holographic interfaces Dai-Shocker had required. At some unknown point, her focus broke; Sunny Flare’s voice bleeding in.
"Boss, we're back from our mission," the young woman reported. "An energy attack interfered with the rift we created and we lost Corrundum."
Midnight didn’t respond, her eyes hidden by the reflection in her glasses. Tapping a few keys, she ejected a data card from her computer. Retrieving it, she held it out to Sunny. “Your next few assignments. Read them thoroughly and don’t come back without the indicated materials.”
Nodding, Sunny took the card. She didn't even bother to ask about their R&R, this was clearly the woman's way of saying it was shelved until at least the new tasks were done. Snapping a salute, Sunny departed, leaving Midnight in the silence of her lab.
Slowly at first, her shoulders began to tremble. The vibration spread to the rest of her body, the motion causing her glasses to slide off her face. A strangled cry of sorrow, of deep suffering, came from the shaking woman. Eyes hot with tears, she threw her monitor off her desk.
"Why?!" She boomed, slamming her hands down on the desk. "Why is all my work doomed to fail?!"
Wobbling legs carried her through her lab, coming to a halt in front of Spike’s cryotube. Placing her hands on it, she felt her knees give way. “I’m sorry, Spike,” Midnight choked out, cursed tears rolling down her face. “N-nothing I try helps...” Her sobs turned to silent chokes as she held onto the tube like a security blanket. "You deserve a better big sister."
Turning her back to him, she rested against the cold tube. Midnight ignored the chill, desperately wiping at her eyes. “I was hoping to use that pathetic stallion’s golem research to fix you, but, we don’t have time to go hunting for him.”
“Look at me. I’m a joke. We have the research of dozens of universes: Umbrella, Dr. Wu, Deathshead, Stahl Arms... and where has any of it gotten us?” Reaching into her coat pocket, she held up the Dangerous Zombie cartridge. “I’m the worst sister ever. I can’t... I can’t even risk my life to save yours.”
Staring at the cartridge, she continued to wallow in her self loathing. Her rational mind reasserted itself, pushing away the haze of self-loathing. “I’m not giving up, Spike. This is just a setback. Somber’s given me free reign with the Shadowbolts and I’ve got them following some excellent leads.”
Nothing was going to stop her from curing her brother. No matter what hellish depths she sank to, no matter what she had to become. Spike would awaken one day. She’d sell her soul to make it happen.
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Uh... I feel like there are parts missing or scenarios haven't been written.
10143206
What makes you say that?
10143209
To be fair, while editing this even I felt things were somewhat disjointed. I just couldn't tell if that was my sleep schedule and being tired making me feel that way or not.
10143206
It was disjointed. This was fully edited from a copy of chapter 21 in my story. We missed some parts while shifting the viewpoints but this was technically worked on several months ago going with X as the main character. It doesn't have the same asides made from my character's knowledge and you don't learn about what was happening in the minds of the characters I've written for.
10145084
So I learned nothing from this chapter and; sorry for me being rude; jibberish. It was good but I can barely imagine the scenes in my head to get what's going on.
10145433
It is a crossover chapter with the story I've written Replicated Wanderer. If you want to know about Corundum and X that's where you read about it. This story is about Wyatt and his adventures as Kamen Rider Decade.
For the barebones things, Evil was looking for Corundum for his knowledge, X ruined their plan, Corundum went on a rampage and he was killed for his acts. Evil lost this round and Good won without knowing that they won.